By Lizbeth Diaz
Mexico City (Reuters) – Gunmen on a motorcycle shot and killed two members of a civil search organization that discovered a now notorious site known as the “Ranch of Horror” of Mexico, the group and authorities said Thursday.
The two victims, Carmen Morales and her son Jaime Ramirez, died after they had been shot by two men on Wednesday evening, said the office of the Jalisco State Procuror in a statement. The suspects are not identified.
Morales and Ramirez were members of the Citizen Search Group Guerreros Buscadores, in the western state of Jalisco, who played an important role in the discovery of what local media called the “Ranch van Horror” in March.
Searchers found hundreds of items of clothing and skeletal remains on the site in Teuchitlan, a rural area outside Guadalajara, the capital of the state. Civil servants said that the site was a cartel training camp.
“Unfortunately (Morales) had been threatened several times. … It is sad and painful that these things happen. All we want families to find our loved ones,” said Raul Servin, a representative for the group.
The public prosecutor of the State of Jalisco, however, has excluded a connection with the search group in his statement.
Morales and Ramirez were looking for a family member who disappeared in February 2024.
Their dead follow on killing another member of the search group. Teresa Gonzalez, who was looking for her missing brother, was murdered earlier this month, according to the group.
Members of search groups for missing family members often receive threats, of which rights groups claim that they largely come from the criminal groups responsible for their disappearances.
Jalisco is one of the states with the highest number of missed persons, according to official data. It is the home of the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) that the authorities have accused of recruiting young people with violence.
According to government data, more than 124,000 people in Mexico are missing. Most cases have never been resolved, so that a deep distrust of the authorities among those looking for the missing breeding.
(Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz; Writing by Cassandra Garrison; adaptation by Leslie Adler)
